Interesting. The street I live on in suburban Los Angeles is a nonstandard spelling of a German name. Presumably based after the family that first lived along it. It’s not uncommon for German family names in the U.S. to have nonstandard spellings, due to both the German spelling standards having changed over the centuries and Americans adjusting the spelling to be more Anglicized.
Not particularly unique but I used to race at Powell Speedway on Powell Rd in Powell, Ohio.
As Emerson had it:
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds
Real creative thinkers those Powell folks. ![]()
I’m a little jealous of you all. I searched Google maps for my street name and found it in most of the adjoining towns. It’s a tree-name road, and I’m sure there are hundreds of it across the US.
In Arlington, VA, there’s a North Glebe Road, a South Glebe Road, a West Glebe Road, and an East Glebe Road. North Glebe transitions to South Glebe. West Glebe transitions to East Glebe, but not at North/South Glebe. West Glebe Road does branch off of South Glebe Road (West Glebe is everywhere south of South Glebe). So, you can tell people to meet you at the intersection of Glebe and Glebe and have a 1/3 chance of finding them.
Don’t get me started on Old North Glebe.
My workplace is on Dead Dog Leg Road. I am guessing that is unique without further research.
I had a girl friend who lived on The Boulevard.
I’ve talked sevaral times about street naming (numbering really) here in Greater Miami.
In almost every longstanding town in the metro blob there are at least 4 intersections of 1st & 1st, at least 4 intersections of 2nd & 2nd, at least 4 intersections of 3rd & 3rd, etc. The upper limit, very rarely reached, is 36 intersections of e.g. 1st & 1st in a single municipality. The blob has 50 some municipalities.
It’s extremely logical and consistent and easy to use once you know the system.
But it requires careful attention to include all the parameters. Almost any shorthanding introduces ambiguity. Which is fine if you and the other person have enough common context to resolve the ambiguity the same way.
I’m not sure what you are referring to here - are you referring to the way German names/words are spelled when an umlaut can’t be used, for example Müller will be spelled Mueller when an umlaut isn’t available or actual Anglicization , where Müller turns into Miller?
I’ve been doing some history work in Putnam County Ohio and they have the damnest system for naming roads I have come across yet. For instance, just to stick with the “I” roads, there is I, I-5, I-6, I-7 up to I-23 (but not all available combinations). Plus 2-I, 6-I, 13-I, 14-I, 15-I, etc. Along with highways using the same numbers like Rt-15 , etc. Some series are N-S and others E-W. Plus diagonal. Some roads are discontinuous and have several sections with the same ID. And I’ll throw in Road 7-K-2. I don’t know what that road does.
It was probably paved with good intentions. So you know what [cue ominous music] that means. ![]()
The back door of my apt bldg is on Coffee street. Not the beverage, however. It’s one block long.
“The street is named after a Jesuit priest, Father John C. Coffee. Born in Ireland, he taught at St. Mary’s College/Collège Ste-Marie in Montreal. In 1896, he was among the key architects of the spin-off of the English-language section of St. Mary’s College to become Loyola College, which was initially located downtown. In 1900, he signed the deed of purchase of the 50-acre Decary farm in western NDG, and was then one of the key players in the construction of Loyola’s new campus there, into which it moved in 1916. Coffee Street, which was named in his honour, runs west from the western border of Loyola Campus.”
Neither. I’m referring to when English speakers change the spelling to better match English pronunciation. For example, “Eisenhauer” → “Eisenhower”, or “Walz” → “Waltz”.
Don’t know how unique this is, but I live on both a road and a drive if you believe the local street department. We’ve been here 21 years and for the entire time the sign at one end has said “Generic Streetname Rd.” and the sign at the other end says “Generic Streetname Dr.”
They’ve been replaced a few times due to accidents, etc and always go back the same way. The post office will deliver to either version and while my (paid off) mortgage listed it as Drive, my actual deed lists it as Road. It’s a total crapshoot with any other paperwork.
I never have seen an explanation.
That is odd. Does the jurisdiction change along the street, i.e. town vs township?
It’s really odd. The street is completely within the city limits of a single municipality. I’ve asked some city officials and all I get is a shrug and “It’s just always been that way”.